→ EPA ADMINISTRATOR MICHAEL REGAN & REGIONAL EPA DIRECTORS

Big Oil is touting a false solution to our plastic crisis: dirty pyrolysis and gasification facilities. Often disguised under the greenwashed names “chemical recycling” and “advanced recycling,” these glorified incinerators are just another scheme the fossil fuel industry is using to keep its destructive empire afloat.

These plants burn plastic – derived from fossil fuels – to create fuels and chemicals that can lead to even more greenhouse gas emissions, worsening the climate crisis and causing other environmental harms in the process. And if that’s not bad enough, the process also releases a cocktail of toxins linked to cancer, nervous system damage, and harmful effects on reproduction and development.

With dozens of chemical recycling plants in development or under construction in the US, it’s critical the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) takes action to:

• Enforce the Clean Air Act (CAA): Section 129 of the CAA mandates emission controls for waste-burning facilities. Consistent and strict enforcement ensures these facilities operate safely. The Municipal Waste Combustion Rule, the Good Neighbor Rule, and the Boilers Rule, also, must be imposed and enforced by USEPA at the existing plastic incineration facilities and the ones proposed in the future.
• Empower communities: Actively engage and meet with impacted communities and incorporate their feedback to effectively address health and environmental risks early in the process.

Without strong action from the EPA, these incinerators will disproportionately burden the low-income communities and communities of color where most pyrolysis and gasification facilities exist, and where they are likely to be sited in the future.

Take action today and demand that EPA Administrator Michael Regan and your regional EPA directors stop these plastic-burning facilities from harming frontline communities and our environment.